Ramsey Khalid Ismael (born September 26, 2000), popularly known by his alias Johnny Somali, is an American live streamer and self-proclaimed internet troll[2] known for his provocative and hostile behavior while traveling overseas.[3][4] After getting banned from Twitch, Ismael began streaming on Kick (being banned since May 2024) and Rumble as a tourist in Asian countries. His behavior has gotten him arrested or detained in different countries numerous times, including in Japan in 2023,[5]Israel in early 2024,[6] and South Korea in late 2024.[7] As of November 2024, he is currently under a travel ban preventing him from leaving South Korea.[8]
Early life
Ismael has reportedly made several conflicting claims about his ethnicity. He reportedly once claimed to have been born to a Somali father and an Ethiopian mother.[9] Ismael also claimed to have been a former child soldier and a former pirate; several sources have expressed doubt about these claims.[10][11]
Ismael also claims to have grown up in Scottsdale, Arizona, and graduated from Arizona State University,[12] but he also claims to been a financial worker, or a real estate manager.[13] Other sources cite him to be an Arizona native.[14]
Career
Ismael mostly streams himself on video streaming platforms such as YouTube and Kick as a tourist travelling in different countries, in particular Japan, Thailand, and Israel.[15] Ismael also visited Bali in Indonesia despite calls for him to be barred of entry.[16] He began streaming in May 2023. After being banned from Twitch, he moved to Kick before receiving temporary suspensions from Kick.[citation needed] He was banned on Kick in May 2024 and unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Twitch into unbanning him. He currently streams on Rumble.[citation needed]
Japan
During his travels to Japan, Ismael made anti-Japanese taunts towards locals,[17] which include comments about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,[18] and threatened to bomb Japan with nuclear weapons on a train. Ismael was occasionally assaulted and called racial slurs by locals who recognized him in public.[19] In one incident, he was confronted by an American man for his behavior, leading Ismael to state, "I'm a troll."[20] The American man was praised by many people on the internet for his actions, while Ismael claimed to have been drunk at the time and had apologized to the man.[21] Ismael harassed Meowko, a Japanese Twitch streamer, which contributed to Ismael's subsequent ban by Twitch.[22]
In June 2023, Ismael went to Tokyo Disney Resort and played music with lyrics containing the phrase "atomic bomb" and recorded guests' reactions without their permission.[23]
In August 2023, Ismael, who was masked, and Jeremiah Dwane Branch, who was recording for him, went into a hotel construction site in Osaka, where he then yelled "Fukushima" at the construction workers. After the construction workers kicked them out, Ismael and Branch were both arrested on suspicion of trespassing.[24][25][26] In September, they were arrested on the suspicion of conspiracy of obstruction of business when they disrupted a restaurant by playing extremely loud noises and music during business hours.[27][28] He claimed that the reason the music was playing was because of the phone producer, Huawei, who "put a Chinese virus on the phone". This was later brought up in court, where the judge found him guilty and stated, "he could've just turned down the volume on his phone".[29]
On December 19, 2023, Ismael, who had been in custody since his second arrest, appeared at the Osaka District Court on the charge of conspiracy of obstruction of business.[30] The charge of trespassing on a construction site was dropped. Prosecutors requested a fine of ¥200,000.[31] Ismael later admitted to lying in court to the judge and prosecutor, having previously claimed to have made no money from his videos.[citation needed] A verdict of guilt was reached on January 10, 2024. He was fined ¥200,000 (the equivalent of US$1,400) and voluntarily returned to the United States.[citation needed]
In March 2024, Ismael stopped livestreaming and instead opted for "Zoom trolling", mostly targeting Zoom calls involving Japanese people.[citation needed]
Israel
On March 25, 2024, Ismael went to Tel Aviv, Israel, where he became involved in altercations with local Arab and Jewish people there. He was then confronted and beaten.[32] As a result of his stream, Ismael was suspended from Kick for a week due to inciting and promoting violent behavior.[citation needed]
On April 5, 2024, he traveled to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where he began live-streaming. He filmed himself attaching images of Harvey Weinstein, Adin Ross, and Jeffrey Epstein to the wall, proclaiming Weinstein as one of his "top Jews" and making insulting remarks towards Ross. He was arrested and received a 50-day ban from Jerusalem.[citation needed][33]
On April 7, 2024, Ismael was detained at a protest in Tel Aviv for sexual harassment of a female police officer. After his release 16 minutes later, Ismael went live again on the same day and claimed to have witnessed a mass shooting at a restaurant.[citation needed] He also excused his actions for being an American citizen.[34] On May 19, 2024, Ismael was assaulted in Israel after being accused of "snitching".[citation needed] One of the men was seen holding an item, possibly a weapon, but Ismael was not assaulted with it.[35]
South Korea
On September 27, 2024, Ismael went to Seoul, where he got onstage during a live music performance.[36] He also loudly played obscene noises on the subway, such as speeches by Kim Jong Un, and was ejected from a bus after loudly playing North Korean music.[37][38]
On October 7, 2024, he kissed and performed lap dances on the Statue of Peace, a memorial that commemorates young comfort women (sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II) though he later apologized for his actions, claiming he didn't know the significance of the statue.[39][40] After this happened, his YouTube channel was terminated.[41] On one occasion, Ismael bought ramyeon noodles and then purposefully poured it on a table in the dining area. After being confronted by the store owner and told to leave, Ismael proceeded to throw noodles out of the store. Due to this and him being barred from drinking alcohol, Ismael made sexist comments towards the worker.[42] He was reported to the police the same day.[43]
On November 2, 2024, he was barred from leaving the country while being under probation for his earlier incidents.[44] On November 6, Ismael uploaded an apology video in which he filmed next to the Statue of Peace, of which viewers doubted his sincerity. It was also reported that there were bounties offered to reveal his location.[45] While live streaming on multiple occasions, Ismael was assaulted by others in public.[46]
On November 11, Ismael was indicted by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office on charges of "obstruction of business" over the October 17 incident at the convenience store. A travel ban linked to the case prevents him from leaving South Korea.[47] In December, his trial was postponed until March 2025.[48]
^"「クソ日本人」と連呼…迷惑系動画で逮捕された"ソマリア海賊"の男が日本に目を付けた特別な事情（デイリー新潮）" [Repeatedly calling them "fucking Japanese"...Special circumstances that caused the "Somali pirate" arrested for disturbing video to focus on Japan (Daily Shincho)]. Daily Shincho. September 29, 2023. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2024 – via Yahoo News.
^"美直播主日本狂喊「再炸廣島」！事後遭路人巴頭襲擊 網譏：他應得的" [American live broadcaster in Japan yelled "Bomb Hiroshima again"! Afterwards, he was attacked by a passerby named Badou. Netizens ridiculed him: "He deserved it"]. FTV News (in Chinese). June 2, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
^"迷惑系「ジョニー・ソマリ」容疑者を再逮捕、牛丼店で大音量の音楽 本人は黙秘" [Johnny Somali suspect arrested again, loud music played at beef bowl restaurant, suspect kept silent]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). October 12, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
^Segura, Lidia Fernandez (January 11, 2024). "El 'streamer' Johnny Somali, expulsado de Japón tras ser condenado por "obstrucción criminal de una empresa"" [Streamer Johnny Somali, expelled from Japan after being convicted of "criminal obstruction of a company"]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved April 23, 2024. Este altercado tuvo lugar en octubre. En ese momento, ante el enfado del dueño del local por las molestias que estaba causando, comentó que toda la culpa era de su móvil. "Es un Huawei, fabricado en China y con un virus chino", se le puede escuchar diciendo en el polémico vídeo, que llevó a muchos internautas japoneses a pedir su detención. [This altercation took place in October. At that moment, faced with the anger of the owner of the premises for the inconvenience he was causing, he commented that his cell phone was all to blame. "It's a Huawei, made in China and with a Chinese virus," he can be heard saying in the controversial video, which led many Japanese Internet users to call for his arrest.]
^Mukherjee, Shreyan (May 24, 2024). "What happened to Johnny Somali in Israel? Streamer's controversies explored". Sportskeeda.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024. The streamer was heard saying: 'Adin Ross, give Somali a deal. Epstein, you've always been one of us. We love you. You're our king Jew. You're one of us. It doesn't matter what you did, n***a, you're still Jewish and you're still one of us. The final one is - Harvey Weinstein. I love you so much. You're one of my top Jews. I love you.'
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